As you know by now, over the Independence Day weekend, the Illinois General Assembly passed a massive tax hike for families and businesses. When Governor Bruce Rauner vetoed the proposal, the Illinois Senate and House quickly overrode his veto. What does that mean for taxpayers? Well, the personal income tax rate has now increased by 32 percent, surging from 3.75 percent to 4.95 percent, and the corporate rate has jumped from 5.25 percent to 7 percent. This effectively enables and funds reckless and irresponsible spending as usual in Springfield for a little while longer. The lack of any real reforms almost guaranteed a return to crisis mode in the not too distant future.

Looking over the roll call in the Illinois House, it is interesting to note that seven Republican lawmakers opposed the temporary increase when running for office in 2014**, but embraced the permanent tax increase in 2017:

Steve Andersson (Geneva)

Terri Bryant (Carbondale)

Mike Fortner (West Chicago)

Norine Hammond (Macomb)

Bill Mitchell (Decatur)

Reggie Phillips (Charleston)

Mike Unes (Peoria)

Pictured above, State Rep. Steve Andersson shakes hands with House Speaker Michael Madigan immediately after the vote to override Gov. Rauner’s veto. Rep. Andersson is a House Floor Leader for the Republican Caucus, yet he actively worked to encourage Republicans to vote for Madigan’s latest big government tax grab. Andersson’s betrayal has led to a call for his resignation. Paul Caprio, director of Family-PAC, is calling on Andersson​ not only to resign as assistant GOP minority leader, but to step down from his seat as state representative immediately, saying:

Andersson has betrayed not only the negotiating position of the house GOP caucus to achieve needed budget reforms, but has also betrayed the voters of his district who he falsely claims to be representing by supporting a 32 percent tax increase without any needed reform.

Steve Andersson is the 21st century Benedict Arnold of the Illinois GOP.

By the way — the leadership of House Minority Leader Jim Durkin (R-Burr Ridge) was noticeably absent during the debate.

The Illinois GOP is in desperate need of true conservative leadership. Far too many Republican officials are content to keep their heads down and slide on by while the radical wing of the Democratic Party advances its socialistic agenda. This lack of leadership and willingness to speak out is demonstrative of who they are at their core. Despite their campaign promises, votes like this tax increase is where the rubber meets the road. What they said, what they didn’t say and how they vote reveals more about their character than empty campaign talk, radio ads, or voter guide surveys.

It is very disappointing to know that so many Republican state lawmakers were persuaded by Andersson, and that so many came to the conclusion that the solution to irresponsible fiscal spending and mismanagement was to place a heavier tax burden on already over-taxed families in Illinois. Little effort other than weak rhetoric was given to the need of reducing spending and cutting waste. Instead, they opted to feed the insatiable demands of our growing state government.

In the end, these lawmakers had to ignore basic economic principles and the recent fiscal history of the General Assembly.

And speaking of history, we know that the state’s financial outlook did not improve from the 2011-2014 temporary income tax hike that was foisted on citizens — despite all the promises that they could and would right the ship with this extra revenue. There is absolutely no reason to believe that more tax dollars flowing to Springfield will result in anything different than before. They have proven themselves to be utterly irresponsible and reckless with the tax revenues they are getting now, so we are highly dubious to believe they would do better with more taxpayer resources.